Elway Considers Marino A Winner In Qb Standings

BRONCOS NOTEBOOK

January 29, 1999|By JASON COLE STAFF WRITER

FORT LAUDERDALE — Denver quarterback John Elway put cohort and fellow Class of 1983 alumnus Dan Marino among his top three all-time quarterbacks. Noticeably absent from that list was former San Francisco quarterback Joe Montana.

Elway listed Marino and Hall of Famers Johnny Unitas and Roger Staubach as his favorites.

"You have to look at Marino as being up there with his numbers and what he has done," Elway said. "Unfortunately, he never has had a good enough team to go all the way.

"Johnny Unitas is kind of the guy who kicked everything off for us and was the guy that won a lot of championships. And then I'd have to go with Roger Staubach because he was kind of my idol when I was young and he won some championships."

Tough to be normal

Denver coach Mike Shanahan said he tries to do his best to keep the week as normal as possible. But there is no questioning that it is nearly impossible.

"What you try to do is you try to keep the schedule the same," Shanahan said. "You keep the practices and meetings the same as always. But this is not a normal situation. There are distractions. The thing is that they're great distractions to have."

Such as not getting much sleep, particularly the night before the game.

"Some guys get a really good night of sleep, but a lot of guys are in the restroom all night and most of the day of the game," defensive end Neil Smith said. "You don't know how it's going to affect a lot of the guys, but you just deal with the excitement."

A one-person job

Shanahan is one of the growing number of coaches who have complete control over coaching and personnel. While he has been careful all week to say he tries to get input from others, he explained the importance of having one person with the final say.

"You have to have both sides of the building working together," Shanahan said. "Sometimes, if you have a personnel man with a lot of say, he might draft a player and he wants that guy to become a player. Even if it's a mistake of a pick, he doesn't want that mistake to be considered his, so you get a problem with the coaching staff, which is trying to win football games every week."

Bankroll equals burnout

Shanahan was asked about the "burnout" factor that some head coaches -- notably Dolphins coach Jimmy Johnson -- have been complaining about lately.

"It seem to me that a lot of the guys who are complaining about burnout have a lot of money in the bank," said Shanahan, who signed a seven-year contract extension in the offseason. The deal guarantees he be paid at least $2.4 million per year or be among the five best-paid coaches in the NFL. He also receives a $500,000 bonus for winning the Super Bowl.

"I don't see a lot of assistant coaches getting burned out. There are a lot of assistant coaches grinding it out until they're 60," said Shanahan, who was being only somewhat whimsical.

So what about Shanahan? Why isn't he thinking about hitting the golf circuit?

"I'm not very good at golf."

More on Marino

Elway said he has already talked to Marino this week. He said there is not uneasiness between the two even though Marino has said he felt some pain last season watching Elway get a title. Marino said it was painful because he longs so much for a title himself. "There's not uneasiness," Elway said. "That's like saying, is there some uneasiness for me] because he has 60,000 yards passing]. We've been in different situations. He's with an up-and-coming team now." ... Elway also put in a vote for controversial Hall of Fame candidate Lawrence Taylor. Taylor, who is considered the greatest linebacker in NFL history, is on the ballot for this season but might not be elected because of his drug problems over the years. "I don't know all the rules and everything, but if you classify the things on the football field, then L.T. deserves to be there," Elway said. ... The Broncos spent most of their practice Thursday working on short-yardage and goal-line situations. Shanahan said he has been happy with the team's work this week.